After a strong start to the year, it was a tough week for Aether. Ethereum$2,938.00 But Standard Chartered’s Jeff Kendrick thinks there are reasons to remain bullish.
It was trading at $2,912 as of mid-morning U.S. time on Friday. Ethereum It was down 12% week over week and down 1.7% year-to-date. Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) Ethereumdown nearly 9% this week and 10% year-to-date.
Kendrick noted that Ethereum’s base network has seen a sharp increase in activity in recent weeks, with transaction numbers reaching new highs due to recent capacity increases with the Fusaka upgrade in December.
He said the spike in usage signals a break from previous cycles in which upgrades have failed to significantly advance long-term network growth. Unlike past upgrades, Fusaka appears to have alleviated previous bottlenecks and enabled more users and developers to drive transactions. Kendrick argued that this change in capacity is what sets the current wave of activity apart from previous gatherings.
Read more: Ethereum upgrade sparks activity, but JPMorgan doubts it will last
Kendrick said Bitmine Immersion shows no signs of slowing down its Ether purchases, with chairman Tom Lee revealing plans for more acquisitions in the future at last week’s annual general meeting.
Macro conditions are also helping, Kendrick added. The elimination of Greenland-related tariff risks, the rebound in Japan’s bond market after a panic selloff earlier this week, and the growing likelihood that BlackRock’s head of fixed income, Rick Rieder, will become the next Federal Reserve chairman all favor risk assets. “(Lidar) will stimulate the economy and help cryptocurrencies,” Kendrick said.
“Because it’s long Ethereum And BMNR looks like a good risk/reward heading into the weekend. ”